Question

document a
source: bureau of the census, washington, d.c., 1860 and hambright, campbell, close to home, oxford university press, 2008
slave statistics, 1860
seceding slave states\tslave population\t% of population in slavery\t% of white families that owned slaves
south carolina\t402,406\t57\t47
florida\t61,745\t44\t35
alabama\t435,080\t45\t35
mississippi\t436,631\t55\t49
georgia\t462,198\t48\t38
louisiana\t331,726\t47\t31
texas\t182,566\t30\t29
virginia\t490,865\t31\t27
arkansas\t111,115\t28\t20
north carolina\t331,059\t33\t29
tennessee\t275,719\t25\t25
growth of slave population in texas:
1836: 5,000\t1850: 58,161\t1860: 182,566
prices in texas, 1860:
one acre of farm land\t$6.00
one healthy male field slave\t$1,200.00
document analysis

1. what was the slave population of texas in 1860?
2. what percentage of the texas population were slaves in 1860?
3. what percentage of white texas families owned slaves in 1860? what percentage did not?
4. what economic fears might have led slave - owning texans to fight for the south?
5. do these statistics suggest why non - slave - owning texans would want to fight for the south? explain.

Explanation:

1. Found the 1860 Texas slave population in the top table and "Growth of Slave Population in Texas" section.
2. Retrieved the percentage from the top table's "% of Population in Slavery" column for Texas.
3. Got the slave-owning percentage from the top table, then calculated non-owning as 100 minus that value.
4. Slaves were high-value property; losing slavery would erase this wealth, harming their economic status.
5. The low percentage of slave-owning families suggests most white Texans had no direct stake, but they may have feared economic competition from enslaved people if freed, or held white supremacist views tied to the Southern social order.

Answer:

1. 182,566
2. 30%
3. 29% of white Texas families owned slaves; 71% did not.
4. Slave-owning Texans likely feared losing their extremely valuable enslaved people (who were worth far more than farmland) and the economic system built on enslaved labor, which would destroy their wealth and livelihoods.
5. The statistics suggest non-slave-owning Texans would not have a direct economic stake in slavery, as only 29% of white families owned enslaved people. However, they might have feared that freed enslaved people would compete with them for jobs or land, or they may have supported the Southern cause due to white supremacist social attitudes that upheld the racial hierarchy of the South.